"Monsieur--" she cried.
"Etienne," said I.
"Nothing will change you," said she. "But is it possible that
you do not hate me? Have you forgiven me the trick which I
played you?"
"What trick?" I asked.
"Good heavens! Is it possible that even now you have not
understood it? You have asked me to translate the despatch. I
have told you that it meant, 'If the French come to Minsk all is
lost.' "
"What did it mean, then?"
"It means, 'Let the French come to Minsk. We are awaiting
them."'
I sprang back from her.
"You betrayed me!" I cried. "You lured me into this trap. It is
to you that I owe the death and capture of my men. Fool that I
was to trust a woman!"
"Do not be unjust, Colonel Gerard. I am a Russian woman, and my
first duty is to my country. Would you not wish a French girl to
have acted as I have done?
Had I translated the message correctly you would not have gone to
Minsk and your squadron would have escaped.
Tell me that you forgive me!"
She looked bewitching as she stood pleading her cause in front of
me.
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